Space shuttle carrier plane heads out on Texas convoy

A Boeing 747 that gave piggyback rides to space shuttles is about to hit the road one last time. On 28 April, a convoy carrying the dismantled jet will begin its journey to Space Center Houston, where the plane will become the centrepiece of an 8-storey-tall exhibit.

The engines on NASA's space shuttles were used only for lift-off and steering and didn't allow the vehicle to fly through Earth's atmosphere under its own power. The shuttles could only glide on their way back to Earth. So the space agency used two modified 747 planes to ferry the shuttles around the country, mostly between Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Edwards Air Force Base in California. When the space shuttle fleet retired, carrier aircraft were used to deliver them to museums around the country.

"It broke our heart not to get the orbiter, of course," says Jack Moore at the Space Center Houston. "But we have managed to take that as an opportunity and make the most of it."

Texas Independence

Along with one of the carrier planes, known as SCA 905, Space Center Houston was awarded a shuttle mock-up called Independence, which was formerly on display at Kennedy. The museum plans to mount the mock shuttle onto the 747 as if they were about to take flight.

But first the plane has to get there from Ellington Field, 8 miles away. To fit through the city streets, the 70-metre-long aircraft had to be cleaned and dismantled, then packed up for ground travel. The plan is to parade the parts through Houston on six trailers, although there won't be much fanfare – they will travel only at night to avoid creating a traffic disturbance.

"I am thrilled to see that Houston is getting a replica orbiter and that they will be displaying it on the carrier aircraft, because that's the way they saw it most often," says Valerie Neal, a curator and historian at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. "The carrier aircraft would often layover in Houston for refuelling or a public showing. The display is very much in keeping with the Houston experience."

Once all the pieces arrive, it will take about 40 days to reassemble the 747. The museum hopes to have the shuttle mock-up placed on top by the end of the year, and the exhibit should open by February 2015. Unlike other shuttles on display, visitors will be able to walk around inside the Independence.

"You will be able to access the flight deck, the middeck, all while it is suspended 60 feet off the ground," says Moore. "You can sit in the commander's chair and get up close with the instrumentation, really get a sense of what it was like to live aboard this magnificent vehicle."

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